Question: Why do the Jews get circumcised?
Short Answer
It’s a sign of the covenant between Abraham (and his descendants, the Jews) and God.
Longer Answer
First, we have to know that circumcision is a common practice with many people groups in the ancient Near East. Israel’s neighbours also practiced circumcision, as seen in Jer 9:25–26. In this passage from Jeremiah, God makes a distinction between circumcision of the flesh and that of the heart. Circumcision of the flesh, practiced by the Egyptians, Judeans, Edomites, etc., is just an ourward sign; what God is looking for is a “circumcision of the heart” (Jer 9:26b). Anyway, that’s another topic. Back to the question at hand. If other people also get circumcised, what’s so special about circumcision for the Jews?
God commanded Abraham to be circumcised (Gen 17), as part of the covenant that he made with Abraham and his descendants. God will make Abraham the father of “a multitude of nations,” and changed his name from Abram to Abraham, kings shall come from him (Gen 17:6). This covenant between Abraham and God extends to Abraham’s descendants as well, “throughout their generations” (Gen 17:7a). There’s also the promise of land, “all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.” (Gen 17:7b–8). What’s Abraham’s part of this covenant? God gave him the requirement of the covenant (Gen 17:10): “Every male among you shall be circumcised.”
All this is fine, and Abraham obeyed God and circumcised his son Ishmael and every male in his household “this very day.” That is, Abraham didn’t waste any time in his obedience. I’m sure when the adults asked Abraham why they have to do this (they would already know what circumcision is, as it’s not something new to people in the ancient Near East), Abraham would have told them that God made a covenant with him. The question on everyone’s mind is: where will you get descendants when you’re 99 years-old and your wife Sarah is barren? Both of you are well, well, past the age of having children, and Sarah already knew she was barren way back in the early days (25 years ago) when she was married to Abram (Gen 11:30). People would be wondering how this will happen, and why they had to get circumcised when Abraham and Sarah obviously had no chance of having children.
Then, about a year later, Sarah was pregnant, and then Isaac was born. Everyone now understands: Isaac is a miracle from God. God made a promise to Abraham, and only a miracle can make that promise come true. From Isaac, there will be sons, and so on, until Abraham’s descendants become a multitude of nations. The Israelites is a people born out of a miracle from God. When Isaac was born, everyone would remember that covenant of circumcision. From then on, every Israelite male would have that mark on his body, that he exists because of God’s promise to Abraham. Every wife would be reminded of this miracle whenever she has sexual relations with her husband, and when her son is circumcised on the eighth day.
So even though circumcision is not something new or unique to the Jews, God used it as a sign of the covenant between himself and Abraham (as well as his descendants). This is similar to the way God used the rainbow as a sign of his covenant (back in Gen 9:13) with Noah. The rainbow was surely something familiar, but God used it as a sign of his promise that he will never again use flood to destroy the earth.
References
Heiser, Michael S. I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible. Edited by John D. Barry and Rebecca Van Noord. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press; Bible Study Magazine, 2014.
There are tons of other books and articles on this subject, but the book above is a good start.
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